South Korean LPGA star Hee Young Park has finished T-5th at the LPGA Tour Championship at the Houstonian Golf & Country Club in Houston, Texas.

Park followed rounds of 70 and 72 with a sparkling 5 under par 67 in the final round of the weather-shortened event. She eventually finished 6 shots behind winner Anna Nordquist of Sweden.

Hee Young Park with IIG co-Director Steve Bann

Park has been working with IIG co-director Steve Bann for some time. However, with Steve currently in Melbourne for the Australian summer tournaments, IIG Coach John Thalassinos joined Hee Young in Houston to keep an eye on her technique.

John and Steve have been speaking on the phone daily to make sure she is on the right track, and it obviously worked with Hee Young getting one of her best finishes of the season.

Congratulations to Hee Young Park and also Steve and Johnny from all of us here at IIG!

Cameron Percy

Cameron Percy has had a memorable year by any standards. He finished 8th on the Nationwide Tour money list and won his card on the PGA Tour for next season. Percy has played solidly all year, but its a safe bet his latest round would have been one of the most memorable of his career.
After starting off the JB Were Australian Masters with a superb 5 under par 67 on Thursday, Percy immediately came into the media spotlight as one of the best Australian hopes for the week. Inevitably, with Tiger Woods’ presence creating an unprecedented amount of excitement in the tournament, questions began to be asked of Percy regarding a possible pairing with the great man over the weekend.
Questions that Percy couldn’t help but ask himself.
He admitted it was on his mind in his second round, when he shot a somewhat disappointing but respectable even par 72. Still, he was still in the hunt and needed a strong showing over the weekend to challenge for the title.

However, on the morning of the third round, Percy wasn’t feeling quite comfortable with his setup over the ball. This is where PGA Tour coaches really earn their money. Luckily for Percy, he had trusted coach Darren Cole on hand to have a look at his setup on the practice range and make a minor adjustment which immediately had him feeling a lot better about how he was striking the golf ball.
Percy shot 69 on Saturday and thanked “Coley” while being interviewed by Fox News later that day. He had something else to be happy about. As it turned out, he had his dream pairing with Tiger Woods for Sunday.
Percy couldn’t have had much sleep on Saturday night but he didn’t show too many nerves on what was probably one of the biggest days of his golfing career so far. The new PGA Tour member (he earned his card through the Nationwide Tour this year) kept it together beautifully to shoot an even par 72 to finish the tournament on -8 and earn a tied-6th position.

All of us at IIG would like to congratulate Cameron Percy and his coach Darren Cole on a wonderful and memorable week.

IIG players Cameron Percy and Roger Tambellini have secured what millions of golfers around the world can only dream of- a gig on the PGA Tour next season.

The pair were part of the top 25 players on the money list at season’s end on the Nationwide Tour who gain promotion to “the big dance” next year.

Cameron Percy

For Percy, who works with Darren Cole and trains at the IIG, it is vindication of a decision he made in consultation with his family and support team:

“Last year, my advisors and I thought about what would benefit me the most, Q-school or the Nationwide Tour. We decided that a year’s worth of experience and traveling outweighs trying to catch lightning in a bottle during the one week of Q-School and going to the PGA TOUR unprepared. The most important thing to me is not making sure I get to the PGA TOUR, but making sure that when I get there that I am going to stay there. I feel this prepared me for doing exactly that.”

Percy notched 7 top ten finishes on the Nationwide Tour this season with a highlight being a T-5th finish at the Nationwide Tour Championship. The 35 year old from Victoria, Australia finished 8th on the money list.

Roger Tambellini

For Roger Tambellini, who works with IIG co-director Dale Lynch, this year was a great learning experience in terms of understanding strategy and the importance of a positive mindset on the golf course:

“The Nationwide Tour is full of talent and aggressive players. This year I learned how to practice, and how much, so that when I step onto the first tee I am looking for birdies. Everyone says the Nationwide Tour is just like the PGA TOUR but on a smaller scale and that statement couldn’t be more true.”

That aggressive attitude paid handsome dividends for Tambellini this season, no more so than when he won the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic. He notched 4 other top ten finishes to end up 9th on the Nationwide Tour money list.

All of us here at IIG would like to congratulate Cameron and Roger, also their coaches Darren and Dale respectively, on a great achievement. Best of luck next year!

Stuart Appleby came down to BannLynch Golf last week to work on his game with his longtime coach Steve Bann, before heading off to the U.S to play in the Fall Series on the PGA Tour.

It has been a tough year for Stuart on Tour with his best finish a tie for 8th at the Transitions Championship. However, having spent some time back in Australia, ‘Apples’ is raring to get back out there and make a strong push towards the end of the year to set himself up well for next season. Another goal for Appleby is to get a win under his belt so that he can make it into the SBS Championship in Kapalua (formerly known as the Mercedes Championship) which is limited to winners on the PGA Tour. He is a 3 time former winner of that tournament and it is sure to be a huge motivating factor for him as he heads back stateside.

Go ahead and enjoy watching one of the purest swings in all of golf. You will get to see all the work that goes in behind the scenes as a dedicated professional prepares himself for the toughest Tour in the world.

Stuart has been working with his coach Steve Bann since he was a junior golfer. In this session they were working on Stuart’s leg action, a good full upper body turn and a slightly lower position of the left shoulder through the ball.

Stuart will be working with Steve at the IIG once they both return to the U.S.

A special thanks to our friends at BannLynch Golf for the footage.